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<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">Sermons for Proper 15</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">Matthew 15: (1-10) 21-28 – “Great Is Your Faith”</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">Matthew 15: (1-10) 21-28 – “Don’t Be a Trender - Be a Trendsetter”</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">Matthew 15, the sermon title “Great Is Your Faith” </span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">What would you think if I told you that on your tombstone would be inscribed a four-word epitaph? Well, you might respond, it would depend on who would write this epitaph--an enemy or a loved one. It might also depend, you might say, on how well this person knew and understood you. If a newspaper critic wrote of a concert pianist the four words: "He was a failure," you could always say: That was his opinion. But if one of the world's great musicians wrote, “He was a genius,” then you are apt to take the remark more seriously.<br>
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There was a character in the Gospel who Jesus once described with four immortal words: Great is your faith. She was a Canaanite woman who came from the country to the north of Palestine, a country hostile to the Jews. She was presumably married, she had at least one child; but that’s all we know about her. We don't know whether she was a good woman or a bad woman. We don’t know her name. All we know of her is that in this single encounter with Jesus he spoke to her this four-word epitaph: Great is your faith.<br>
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Only four words but they are enough to make her immortal. We can trust these words as being true because the expert on faith spoke them. Jesus searched for faith, as a gem collector would fine jewels. He did not always find it in his disciples. On no occasion that we know did he ever say of Peter, James, and John: Great is your faith. More often the words he spoke to them: You of little faith. On only one other occasion did Jesus praise a person for their faith. Interestingly, that was a Roman soldier stationed in Capernaum.<br>
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We regard this Canaanite woman with more than just an academic interest. She awakens in us a feeling of admiration, perhaps even envy, because she stands where most of us would like to stand…</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">Matthew 15, the sermon titled “Don’t Be a Trender - Be a Trendsetter” </span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">“Trending” as in “what’s trending?” is a social networking term used to describe what latest “hot new thing” is gaining popularity online and in our TGIF (Twitter, Google, Instagram, Facebook) culture. If you know what is “trending” then supposedly you’ve got your finger, or at least your texting finger, on the pulse of “what’s happening” in the world today.</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">What have you heard is trending? Anyone?...This would be a great time for you to enter the congregational space and interact with your people about what “trends” they’re tracking…You may want to prime the pump and ask some of your youth what music is trending…what’s their favorite musician, and then ask if that musician is “cool” or not cool? . . .</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">At the end of the interaction you might want to mention that you’ve heard that the country that’s trending most right now is South Korea, that in Asia and many other places, but not yet in the US, South Korea and everything Korean is hip (see Euny Hong’s The Birth of Korean Cool (2014). Although you might want to mention that “fanbots” may be a Korean idea that will never catch on. “Fanbots” are robot fans that you can rent if you can’t attend a baseball or soccer game. They attend for you, sit in a special section for robots, and they can cheer, chant and even perform a wave, whatever you instruct them to do as you watch the game through their eyes.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">Here’s something ironic about all this trendiness. The problem is that closely following and participating in what is “trending” guarantees that you are NOT a “trend-setter.” Instead you are jumping on the “trending” bandwagon, letting the collective online crowd determine what you think is worth your time and attention. To be perennially “trending” is like being forever trying to join that most popular “clique” in junior high and high school. As soon as you “join in” it’s no longer the coolest, latest thing. Sometimes the most relevant is not the most recent but the most ancient…</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">The rest of this sermon can be obtained by joining Sermons.com at</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a target="_blank" href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8GBgQECQJRCw1JAQcFDU5QW1YECA%3D%3D" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; font-size: 11px; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">http://www.sermons.com/signup</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">___________________________ </span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">Breaking down Barriers</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">C.S. Lewis once wrote an essay entitled The Inner Ring. He says in the article that in any playground or office or church there are little groups or rings of people who are on the “inside”. And those who aren’t: those who don’t get picked at playtime, those who stand on their own in the lunchroom. Lewis says that the existence of such rings is not necessarily bad. We’re finite beings, and we can only have deeply intimate friendships with a limited number of people. But he says that the desire to gain status or self-worth by being part of an “inner ring” is deeply destructive. It causes you to constantly compare yourself with others, to feel anguish when you’re left out, and deeper anguish when someone close to you gets let in. Worst of all, once you’re in, you want to keep others out, because it’s the exclusive nature of the group that makes you feel good. <br>
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Jesus’ disciples wrestled often with that desire to be part of the inner ring. They argued over who should have the seats closest to Jesus. They asked Jesus to bring down fire on pagan villages. They rebuked little children for coming in too close and wasting Jesus’ time. Jesus must have often shaken his head because he was constantly teaching about who was in and who was out, about God’s desire to bring into the inner ring of his love anyone who will come. One of the most intriguing stories about status is this one in Matthew 15:21-28.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">John Tucker, Breaking Down Barriers: Inclusion</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">A Mother’s Faith</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">Augustine's mother, Monica, was a fervent believer who prayed constantly for her son's salvation. She devoted her whole life to praying for Augustine's conversion. At one point, when Augustine was becoming devoted to the Manichaean philosophy, Monica begged a holy man to speak to Augustine, and show him why their beliefs were not true. The holy man refused because Augustine was known to have a great intellect, and would likely try to savage the holy man's arguments. The holy man assured Monica that he, too, had once been a Manichaean, and that Augustine was too smart to deceive himself much longer. At this, Monica began to cry. The holy man sent her away, saying, "Go, go! Leave me alone. Live on as you are living. It is not possible that the son of such tears should be lost."</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">The holy man was right. After many years and a fierce inner struggle, Augustine was touched by a revelation in Scripture, and became a Christian. When Monica learned of her son's salvation, she remarked that she had nothing left to live for, for the greatest desire of her heart had been fulfilled. Nine days later, Monica died. And the son she had spent her life praying for, went on to affect the whole world.<br>
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Monica never quit asking. "Live on as you are living," said the holy man. "It is not possible that the son of such tears should be lost." You are concerned about someone you love? Keep on asking God for help. Don't let your tears quench the flame of your faith in God. It may seem like God is ignoring you, but I assure you that is not the case. Don't give up. Keep asking. And keep on trusting. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">King Duncan, When You Need Help, adapted from Ruth Bell Graham, Prodigals and Those Who Love Them.</span></div>
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